February 2017 Archives (all archives)
February 28
Anchors for deleted comments
Since the megathreads are so long and cause problems with mobile browsers occasionally reloading the page, I've found it easiest to "checkpoint" my place by occasionally clicking on the timestamps so that my browser will update the URL to have the anchor of that comment. That way if the page is accidentally reloaded it will go back somewhere near the right location. If I'm unlucky enough to click on a comment that is deleted due to moderation, the anchor goes away and I must endlessly scroll hoping to find where I left off. Is it possible for the anchor tags for deleted posts be preserved into either the next comment or maybe the [moderators comment] that removed it?
February 25
Metatalktail Hour: Tradition!
Good Saturday Evening, MetaFilter! This week's Metatalktail conversation starter is, What is your favorite personal/family/friend group/societal tradition? [more inside]
February 23
call-in show: Ask A Moderator
For the next podcast episode, I think it'd be fun to do another call-in show. This time: Ask A Moderator! Drop us a voicemail at (505) 663-6334, that's (505) 663-MEFI, with a question about MetaFilter, moderation, being a mod, or whatever, and we'll try and give you an answer! [more inside]
Article on predictions and gender
I'm trying to find an article I'm pretty sure I saw on here in the last year or so about the gender differences in predictions of the future but my search fu is failing me. [more inside]
February 22
Comment on Smart Contracts?
I'm trying to find a comment I remember reading about smart contracts, along the lines of the concept of a human-free "objective" contract being incoherent because ultimately humans have to design these smart contracts. I've searched the threads on smart contracts, Ethereum, and other likely topics with no luck. Does anyone happen to have an idea of the comment I'm talking about? Thanks!
February 20
Pogues protest song in mega election thread?
In one of the December election threads, someone made a passing reference to a Pogues song, and I can't find it. If memory serves, the comment didn't mention them by name, but said something to the effect of "I never thought I'd be singing xxxxx, but it's relevant again." The only things I can recall were that it was from one of the 1980s albums and it wasn't "Fairytale of New York". If anyone can help jog my memory, I'd be much obliged. Thanks!
So whatcha workin' on?
I want to talk about "local action" for all the MeFites who have ideas, need ideas, or just want to share cool ideas you've seen out there. [more inside]
February 18
Metatalktail Hour: Media Week!
Happy Saturday, MetaFilter! This week's Metatalktail conversation starter is, What book/movie/play/song/WHATEVER has you excited right now? What popular things are worth our time? What overlooked things have we yet to discover? [more inside]
2017 "No Spending" Challenge: February Update
This is a bit late, but we wanted to share the progress of the 2017 Metafilter "No Spending" Challenge so far! [more inside]
What to call the Trump?
We've gone back and forth in the election threads for over a year now.
And plenty MeTa ink has already been spilled alternately bemoaning and re-litigating names for his Trumpiness, how annoying nicknames are, why some people want them, etc. etc.
It's been recently argued that his name is already pretty silly for the English.
From Lord Dampnut to [], this topic seems done to death.
Can we just settle this and put it in the damn wiki? Has it already been? Isn't this a better place than the unwieldy election threads?
February 15
Buckt stung
February 14
A moment of mod appreciation
I didn't realize how much I'd learned from this community about how to moderate a community...until the community I moderate started talking politics. What skills have you realized you honed on MetaFilter without noticing it? [more inside]
MeFi Fantasy Baseball 2017: Dynasty Edition
Major League Baseball Spring training starts this week, and I was wondering if there might be some interest in starting a fantasy baseball dynasty league. I've participated in cgk's redraft league for a few years, and it's been a lot of fun, but I thought the addition of a dynasty element might appeal to some of the more seasoned spreadsheet athletes out there. Details below. [more inside]
February 13
Should we change our norms around what makes a good answer in AskMe?
Hello fellow MeFites! I'm wondering if we can discuss as a community the possibility of shifting the site norms and policies around what makes a good AskMe answer. Is this something others would be interested in and what would be a good norm/policy for you? [more inside]
February 11
Metatalktail Hour: RECIPES FOR THE RECIPE GOD!
It's Metatalktails time! By special request from rtha it's a recipe thread tonight! Food demands fellowship, so share your good feels, your favorite recipe, and/or your favorite meal this week.
February 10
For the love of God, Montserrat!
If you noticed a subtle font change on MetaFilter in the Modern theme in the last day or so, you're not hallucinating: one of the web fonts we use, Montserrat, got tweaked by its designer in a way that's affected us and a ton of other websites. Come inside for some details! [more inside]
February 9
Multiple AskMe Posts a Week: An Ideas Whose Time Has Come
Comrades, I think it's time to revisit the idea of allowing users to post multiple AskMe questions in a week. In the past I have gone on record as being against this, but upon further reflection I realize it was merely kneejerk, reactionary fear of change. Let us embark together down this unknown road. [more inside]
Add Some Music To Your Day
Following hot on the heels of The MetaFilter Podcast, I give you its scruffy, grumpy, band t-shirt wearing younger sibling, The MeFiMusic Podcast (episode 4), available now on Soundcloud! [more inside]
February 7
125: It's Been A Weird, Weird Time
This episode of Best of the Web, jessamyn and I catch up on the last month-ish on MetaFilter, and I mostly manage not to lapse into grumpy ranting about the state of the world, mostly. Also, we get voicemail from Greg_Ace, Wordshore, wenestvedt, and a mystery caller with an update re: bananas. This episode covers January 3rd through February 7th and runs about 90 minutes. [more inside]
the delightful side of MetaFilter
Please share the MeFi post/discussion that has *delighted* you the most, in an irrepressible smile-inducing sort of way. It can be old or new, brief or epic, an FPP whose comments devolved into a series of terrible puns, an in-joke-filled post about your favorite show on FanFare, an Ask about naming a really cute pet, the IRL where you met your SO... whatever you've seen discussed or discovered by this community that has given you a frisson of sans schadenfreude delight, I'd love to see or be reminded of it, too. Here's to brighter days. [more inside]
MF Wiki + adding political resources
Hey mods and fellow MeFites. Apologies if this has been discussed recently but I didn't find anything. I have two questions: Can we make it easier to find the Mefi Wiki? And is it okay to add a page of links to groups like Indivisibleguide.org so there's a central list of progressive activism resources? [more inside]
Moderator in the news?
Hey, Cortex! (read to the end)
February 6
Testing out a new US Politics sidebar widget
Based on a lot of discussion over the last year and especially the last couple months about how the site handles the visibility and organization of posts about contemporary US politics, we've put together a new sidebar tool that you can test out starting today. [more inside]
February 4
Metatalktail Hour: My Favorite Thing about This Week
Helloooooooo welcome to another MetaTalkTail Hour, I am drinking a fairly inferior chardonnay but I used it for cooking so it's open so eh. Today's conversation starter: my favorite thing about this week. (As always, the bouncers hate politics, so keep that shizz to some other thread!)
February 3
Article about pro-life march
I recently read an article - I think I found it here - about the pro-life march, which had some rather surprising details. Some of the marchers carried signs to indicate that that were both against abortion AND Trump, and some expressed that they were completely pro-life ... against abortion, pro-caring for children in poverty, against the death penalty. Now I can't find it. Help?
WomensMarch 2: Electric Boogaloo?
Not the actual physical Women's March on Washington--the MeFi traditional version of a month where we encourage women to make front page posts to the Blue, especially first time posters. More on that if you aren't familiar under the cut.
It's occurred to me that we have a whole lotta focus on politics right now, in part because pretty much everyone with ties to the USA and a lot of people who don't are currently terrified of fascists. Consequently, the politics megathreads are taking up a lot of energy and attention. I miss this site having a lot of interesting front page posts so that I can take breaks and do things besides endless screaming sometimes here, too. And I remember our MonthByWomen events as being a great effort for womens' solidarity, as well as a really good way to get more voices bringing up lots of interesting and useful topics.
Is anyone else interested in holding another WomensMarch here on MeFi? [more inside]
February 2
Is masturbation allowed on MetaFilter?
Etiquette question. I was sure - but am now thinking I was mistaken - that one was required to exercise a degree of caution or decorum for how masturbation was mentioned and/or described in posts on the blue. Why, I don't know or can't remember. Ergo, I skipped daintily around the word in a recent post, but a subsequent blunt comment didn't elicit any adverse reactions. Searches across both MetaTalk and the blue don't turn up contentious vexations, so was I mistaken and it's okay to mention masturbation in any broad manner and context, or not? [more inside]
Marking links to tweets
There are a lot of links to tweets where the link text is the text of the tweet. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate not having to click a mystery link to find out what it says, and I understand that we want to cite our sources, but it's annoying to click something expecting to read about some topic and find that I've already read everything there is to read. Could we have some sort of post-link marker to indicate that clicking the link will take you to a tweet that says exactly what the link says? Maybe [tw] or [twpic] or something if the tweet has no other text but some multimedia content? [more inside]